439
PARTISAN REVIEW
hill, the road flattened for the last two kilometers through town to
the coal yards. But the last downslope was a great trial to every
man.
As
the wheelbarrow went faster and faster, Father followed
with his feet crisscrossing like a drunkard's. He stumbled, and
the wheelbarrow went out of track and overturned. The belt
tan–
gled around his neck and shoulders, and his face and elbows
scraped the ground. The basket fell from the wheelbarrow and
most of the coal tumbled into the roadside ditch. Several soft–
hearted carriers held him upright, massaged his bruised right
ankle, and helped him to mount the basket and scoop the coal up
from the ditch. Some of the coal was carried away by the trick–
ling water. Each of the carriers gave him several handfuls of
coal, not enough for them to miss, but enough for him to make
up his loss. Then they helped him until he was past the scale,
unloaded and got his pay.
At sunset, he came home limping and dragging the empty
wheelbarrow behind him. His scraped face was covered with
dust and sweat. Mother hurried to fetch warm water for him to
wash with. She served chopped skin of winter melon fried with
hot pepper for dinner. She didn't eat, but instead huddled herself
up and stared at the table. I was very sorry that I had not gone
with Father that day.
* * *
The next time Father set out with his wheelbarrow, I tied a
rope to the front bar and insisted on going with him. It was dawn.
Up slopes, I pulled the rope with all my weight. Down slopes, I
pulled backwards as a braking force. In the beginning, it was
hard to coordinate our efforts. I would stop when he needed help,
and I would pull when he stopped to catch his breath or to set
himself for a turn. Soon, I became skillful at synchronizing my
pulling with his pushing.
I knew from the position of the sun when it was seven
o'clock, so at the last moment I hurried home to swallow my rice
porridge and run to school. I was exhausted. Gradually the
teacher's voice became indistinct and hypnotic. The fifty minl,lte
class seemed to stretch on longer than usual. I bit my lip to keep
